AL voters okay amendments on display of Ten Commandments, rights of unborn children

Voters on Tuesday approved constitutional amendments to display the Ten Commandments on public property, and to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children. (Source: Raycom Media)

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Voters on Tuesday approved constitutional amendments to display the Ten Commandments on public property and to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.

Alabama voters also approved amendments related to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, and filling vacancies in the state legislature.

Amendment One authorizes “the display of the Ten Commandments on state property and property owned or administrated by a public school or public body.”

Prior to the vote, the ACLU said the ballot measure was meaningless. “It doesn’t create any new rights. It doesn’t make it more legal to display the 10 commandments, than it is legal today," said Randall Marshall, the ACLU of Alabama Executive Director.

Marshall said schools could be put in a tight situation if they put up the Ten Commandments and were sued. He said they could be sued if they did not use historical context.

Amendment Two wouldn’t make abortions illegal in the state because Roe v. Wade has not been overturned, according to the conservative-leaning Alabama Policy Institute, which supported the measure.

Katie Glenn, the Alabama State Director for Planned Parenthood, said approving Amendment 2 could eventually lead to illegal abortions in the state.

Amendment Three, concerning the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, specified "that the congressional districts from which members are appointed continue to reflect those as constituted on January 1, 2018, to remove the State Superintendent of Education from membership, and to delete the requirement that members vacate office at the annual meeting of the board following their seventieth birthday."

Amendment Four said that “if a vacancy in either the House of Representatives or the Senate occurs on or after October 1 of the third year of a quadrennium, the seat would remain vacant until a successor is elected at the next succeeding general election.”